Multiple unit capstan



June 5, 1956 c. A. WINDSOR 2,748,923

MULTIPLE UNIT CAPSTAN Filed July 18, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l mvnvrop C. ,4. WINDSOR June 5, 1956 c. A. WINDSOR MULTIPLE UNIT CAPSTAN 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed July 18, 1952 FIG 3 INVENTOR C A. WINDSOR United States Patent MULTIPLE UNIT CAPSTAN Charles A. Windsor, Buffalo, N. Y., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 18, 1952, Serial No. 39,704

6 Claims. (Cl. 203--320) This invention relates to strand handling apparatus and more particularly to driving capstans therefor.

In applying an insulating material such as enamel on electrical conductors, it is necessary for the conductors to be removed from supply reels and travel in guided paths relative to coating and baking units after which the conductors are wound on take-up reels. Grooved elements rotatably mounted at spaced positions relative to the coating and baking units serve to provide the formation of a plurality of loops in each conductor so that the coating and baking steps may be repeated a desired number of times to produce a coating of a given thickness on the conductor. Most of the wire processed in this way is of sufliciently heavy gage that it may be longitudinally advanced by the rotation of the take-up reel. However, it has been found that this type of drive is not suitable in processing ultra fine wires as they do not have sufficient strength to withstand advancement by rotation of the take-up reel and breakage occurs particularly when the apparatus is being set in motion.

The object of the present invention is to improve the advancing means of strand handling apparatus whereby finer strands may be processed thereby.

With this and other objects in view, the invention comprises the incorporation of a driving means with one of the peripherally grooved elements in a strand handling apparatus whereby the total pulling force, for advancing the strand, will be divided into several forces applied to successive lengths or loops of the strand.

More specifically, one or more peripherally grooved elements for one or more strands or conductor wires may be mounted by the aid of suitable bearings on a driven shaft, so that the elements will tend to rotate with the shaft, starting advancement of the strands under the control of the drive elements and companion elements prior to positive connection of the drive elements through clutches to the shaft. Furthermore, actuable members are provided for the clutches, movable into open or closed positions and adapted toapply braking forces to the elements when their clutches are released to bring them to a gradual stop.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a portion of the controlling unit incorporated in a strand handling apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a schematic side elevational view of the strand handling apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary isometric view of one of the elements showing the brake member and the clutch actuating member; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary isometric view of the lower end of one of the clutch controlling members.

Referring now to the drawings, attention is first directed to Fig. 2 which illustrates a strand handling apparatus which, in the present embodiment of the invention, is an apparatus for enameling wires which are to serve as electrical conductors. The apparatus includes spaced supports 10 for a spindle 11 of a supply reel 12. This particular apparatus is designed to process a plurality of wires 14 simultaneously which are withdrawn from their respective supply reels 12 and guided in paths determined by sets of drive elements 15 and companion idler elements 16. The elements 15 and 16 have peripheral grooves as those shown at 17 in Fig. l, to form a series of loops in each wire and direct them relative to coating roller 19. The coating roller is of the conventional type partially nested in a bath of coating material such as enamel, to apply successive coatings on the loops of the wire as they travel over the roller. The individual coatings are baked on the wire as the portions thereof travel through an oven 20, the coated wire finally being wound on a take-up reel 21 which is driven, in the present embodiment of the invention, by a torque motor 22 capable of applying a predetermined tension on the strand.

The present embodiment of the invention is centered about the drive elements 15 and their associated mechanisms as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4. The elements 15 are supported for rotation on a shaft 25 which is journallecl in suitable bearings 26 and driven by a motor 27 through a sprocket and chain connection 23. interposed between the elements 15 and the shaft 25 are bearings 29 of the roller type adapted to transfer certain of the rotary motion of the shaft 25 to their respective elements to begin advancement of each strand or wire prior to the time the elements are positively connected to the shaft.

Each element 15 is provided with a clutch member 30 fixed thereto and having clutch teeth 31 to interengage similar teeth of a clutch member 32 carried by a grooved member 33. The member 33, in each instance, is keyed for axial movement relative to and mounted concentric with a member 34 which is fixed to the shaft 25. A spring 36, positioned between each member 34 and a projection of its clutch 32, normally urges its clutch into closed position. It will be noted that the grooved members 33 substantially close the ends of the elements 15 and are constructed so as to intercept any strand or portion thereof during threading of the strands through the apparatus or during processing of the strands, should they at any time break or be displaced from their grooves, to prevent them from wrapping about the shaft and particularly to prevent them from becoming entangled in the clutch portions.

An actuating spindle 4% is provided for each clutch and element, these spindles being identical in structure with the exception of their lengths whereby approximately half of the spindles may have their actuating handles 41 disposed in a given plane while the intermediate spindles may have their handles disposed in another plane. The spindles 40 are supported for rocking movement in vertically positioned housings 42 mounted at 43 and having base members 44 provided with spring pressed plungers or ball members 45. The spindle 40 has a lower portion 46 mounted thereon which carries the handle 41 and is provided with spaced recesses 47 to receive the ball member 45 and cooperate therewith in locating the spindle in either of two positions. A roller 50 is supported by an eccentric portion 51 of the spindle 40 and is disposed in the annular groove of its respective member 33, whereby rocking movement of the spindle from one position to another determined by the recesses 47 will cause the roller 50 to move the clutch into closed or open positions. A brake 52 in the form of a resilient member with the contour shown for example in Fig. 3, is secured to the spindle 4t) and positioned to engage the adjacent side of its respective element 15 to apply a braking force to the element.

Considering now the operation of this particular portion of the strand handling apparatus, it will be apparent that the advancing means for the strand is centered on the respective drive elements 15. The driving means therefore includes the bearings 28 which provide the necessary frictional driving connection between the shaft 25 and the elements upon releasing the brake 52 prior to engagement of the clutch for each element. This permits the elements to begin their rotation from a stop position to a speed approaching the speed of the shaft 25 to avoid jerking the strand which would result from direct connection of each element with the shaft through the closing of the clutch. Furthermore, during stopping of the apparatus the clutch for each element is disengaged at which time the free wheeling effect will permit continued rotation of the elements until the desired braking forces are applied to the elements through the brakes 52. Although the recesses 47 function as positive locations for the spindles 40 to position their clutches definitely in open or closed positions and to definitely position the brake 52 for each spindle into or out of engagement with their respective elements, certain of the intermediate positions are important in bringing about gradual starting and stopping of each element particularly in the handling of ultra fine strands or wires.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a strand handling apparatus having a rotatably supported idler element with annular grooves in the periphery thereof, a drive shaft, means to rotatably support the drive shaft, a drive element with annular grooves in the periphery thereof rotatably mounted on the shaft and when driven cooperating with the idler element to advance a strand longitudinally in the form of a series of loops in the grooves about the elements, bearing means interposed between the shaft and the drive element to exert a small turning moment on the drive capstan to start longitudinal movement of the strand and a clutch actuable to connect the shaft to the drive element.

2. In a strand handling apparatus having a rotatably supported idler element with annular grooves in the periphery thereof a drive shaft, means to rotatably support the drive shaft, a drive element with annular grooves in the periphery thereof rotatably mounted on the shaft and when driven cooperating with the idler element to advance a strand longitudinally in the form of a series of loops in the grooves about the elements, bearing means interposed between the shaft and the drive element to exert a small turning moment on the drive element to start longitudinal movement of the strand, a clutch actuable to connect the shaft to the drive element, means to actuate the clutch, and means to apply a braking force to the drive element.

3. In a strand handling apparatus having a rotatably supported idler element with annular grooves in the periphery thereof, a drive shaft, means to rotatably support the drive shaft, a drive element with annular grooves in the periphery thereof rotatably mounted on the shaft and when driven cooperating with the idler element to advance a strand longitudinally in the form of a series of loops in the grooves about the elements, bearing means interposed between the shaft and the drive element to exert a small turning moment on the drive element to start longitudinal movement of the strand, a clutch ac tuable to connect the shaft to the drive element and means to guard the clutch against entanglement of the strand therewith.

4. In a strand handling apparatus having a rotatably supported idler element with annular grooves in the periphery thereof, a drive shaft, means to rotatably support the drive shaft, a drive element with annular grooves in the periphery thereof rotatably mounted on the shaft and when driven cooperating with the idler element to advance a strand longitudinally in the form of a series of loops in the grooves about the elements, bearing means interposed between the shaft and the drive element to exert a small turning moment on the drive element to start longitudinal movement of the strand, a clutch ac tuable to connect the shaft to the drive element, a spindle supported for rocking movement between given positions, a roller carried by the spindle eccentrically of its axis to cause movement of the clutch into and out of engagement with the drive element when the spindle is moved respectively into said positions, and a brake movable with the spindle to engage the drive element to apply braking force to the drive element when the clutch is disengaged from the drive element.

5. In a strand handling apparatus having a rotatably supported idler element with annular grooves in the periphery thereof, a drive shaft, means to rotatably support the drive shaft, a drive element with annular grooves in the periphery thereof rotatably mounted on the shaft and when driven cooperating with the idler element to advance a strand longitudinally in the form of a series of loops in the grooves about the elements, bearing means interposed between the shaft and the drive element to exert a small turning moment on the drive element to start longitudinal movement of the strand, a clutch actuable to connect the shaft to the drive element, a spindle supported for rocking movement between given positions, a roller carried by the element to cause movement of the clutch into and out of engagement with the drive element when the spindle is moved respectively into said positions, a brake movable with the spindle to engage the drive element to apply braking force to the drive element when the clutch is disengaged from the drive element, and means actuable to rock the spindle into the said pd sitions.

6. In a strand handling apparatus having a rotatably supported idler element with annular grooves in the periphery thereof, a drive shaft, means to rotatably sup port the drive shaft, a drive element with annular grooves in the periphery thereof rotatably mounted on the shaft and when driven cooperating with the idler element to advance a strand longitudinally in a series of loops in the grooves about the elements, bearing means interposed between the shaft and the drive element to exert a small turning moment on the drive element to start longitudinal movement of the strand, a clutch actuable to connect the shaft to the drive element a spindle supported for rocking movement between given positions, a roller member carried by the spindle to cause movement of the clutch into and out of engagement with the drive element when the spindle is moved respectively into said positions, a brake movable with the spindle to engage the drive element to apply braking force to the drive element when the clutch is disengaged from the drive element, means actuable to move the spindle into the said positions, and means tending to retain the spindle selectively in said positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,022,349 Barker Apr. 2, 1912 2,027,451 Rooney et al Jan. 14, 1936 2,096,232 Ensign et al Oct. 19, 1937 2,136,556 Lovett Nov. 15, 1938 2,167,373 Rocke July 25, 1939 2,232,500 Weaver Feb. 18, 1941 2,397,620 Orr Apr. 2, 1946 2,589,660 Bauman et al. Mar. 18, 1952 2,659,955 Stanley Nov. 24, 1953 

